1. Field of the Invention
The invention includes protective sleeves for garment apparel. More specifically, a protective sleeve may be inflated with a liquid or gas, everted about a forearm for a snug fit and to expose a sterile surface on which to wipe a medical device, a forehead, a mouth, a window, a barber""s razor, or the like.
2. Background Information
A sleeve may be thought of as a part of a garment apparel that covers all or part of a human arm. Sleeves are designed to add warmth to the body or aesthetic appeal to the garment to which it is attached. However, behavior being what it is, humans have used the sleeve as a convenient wiping tool. For example, doctors have used their sleeve to clean their medical devices, barbers have wiped their razors with their sleeve, and dads have wipe their car windows with their sleeve. Most egregiously, kids have used their sleeve to wipe their foreheads, mouths, and even their nose, all to the chagrin of their mom.
Over the centuries, devices have been developed to keep a sleeve clean. For example, to keep his troops from wiping their noses on their uniforms, Napoleon is claimed to have placed buttons on the posterior edge of his men""s coat-sleeves. In more modern times, a garter has been employed by draftsmen as an elasticized band worn around the arm to keep the sleeve pushed up. In the medical field, inventors have patent sleeve garment protectors under U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,741, U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,372, U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,953, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,130. Napkins have been added to the sleeve under U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,865, U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,813, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,534, and U.S. Pat, No. 5,476,697 to protect the sleeve during supper time. Moreover, to protect against the kid-wiping-the-sleeve scenario in general, one inventor patented a sleeve garment protector under U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,645.
A problem with each of the above sleeve garment protectors is thoroughness and efficiency with which a surface may be cleaned. To clean a dirty surface with a sleeve garment protector, the dirty surface and the sleeve garment protector are brought together under pressure and moved in relationship to one another. At those locations where the dirty surface contacts the sleeve garment protector, the dirty surface is wiped clean. As the total area over which the dirty surface contacts the sleeve garment protector increases, so does the thoroughness and efficiency with which a surface may be cleaned.
The total surface area over which the dirty surface contacts the sleeve garment protector is a function of the underlying support of the sleeve garment protector. In the case of a sleeve garment protector, the underlying support is a human arm. Due the human arm""s cylindrical profile, the total area over which the dirty surface contacts the sleeve garment protector is at its minimum. This minimum contact is inefficient and requires much effort to clean a dirty surface.
An embodiment of the invention includes a protective sleeve for garment apparel. The protective sleeve includes an inside material having an arm surface coupled to an inside wall and an outside material having a sterile surface coupled to an outside wall. The inside wall and the outside wall are coupled together to form an interior. Moreover, a fluid is placed within this interior.